Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Turf management or pitchcare describes the work needed to keep
a sporting pitch ready for use. This article looks at the various types
of sporting pitches and the type of challenges which they present.
The skills needed vary considerably dependent upon the sport and whether or not artificial surfaces are used. Special sets of skills are also needed to care for either sand-based athletic fields or native soil fields.
Cricket pitches
Cricket pitches are mainly natural grass
with infrequent replacement of the playing surface. Cricket pitches are
unusual in that they have to last for up to 5 days of play and the way
that the pitch will change over time is an essential part of the sport.
The English cricket board
has published a definitive paper on pitch properties and performance.
The properties of an ideal cricket pitch have been identified as
- Bounce, technically measured as the vertical rebound height of a ball dropped from 3 metres.
- Pace, the degree to which a ball is slowed on hitting the pitch.
- Consistency. Consistency of bounce is reported to be the most valued characteristic of a good pitch.
- Turn. This refers to the ability of the ball to turn away from the line of trajectory. A thin grass covering has been calculated to have up to 30% less friction on a bouncing ball. However it is believed that the most significant contribution to turn comes from pitch damage as the game progresses.
Research has also identified the ideal soil as having between 27% and 33% clay. Less than this will hinder binding of the grass.
More than this will make for a heavy pitch which takes longer to dry
out and is more difficult to handle. There should be between 3% and 8%
of organic matter in the soil.Above 8% there will be problems with water retention and soil strength.
Cricket pitches are often
